It has long been contended by both the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Chicago School that immigration fractures effective community controls, resulting in increased crime, conflict and social disorder. Building on the Chicago School approach, this article provides an extended model of the theory of collective efficacy introducing two new concepts of ‘confined’ and ‘collaborative’ collective efficacy. The article is based on research carried out in an English town that experienced a mass and rapid in-migration of Polish nationals. The results of a survey of Polish migrants (n=78) and native residents (n=172) demonstrate how a perceived ‘normative core’ between diverse groups is the crucial ingredient for collaboration in social control efforts and for dissipating instances of inter-group conflict.